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Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Strip Steak Trifecta: Dry Aged vs Organic vs Buffalo

While I almost always go for Dry Aged Prime beef, I thought a three way taste off would be a good way to try Organic Beef and compare them both to an old favorite of mine - Buffalo.

On the left is the Organic beef, Dry aged in the middle and Buffalo on the right. The Organic beef has a deep ruby red color, and features the least amount of marbling. The Dry Aged steak had a bright red color and the most marbling of the three. The Buffalo on the right features a hue of red similar to the Organic Beef with just a touch more marbling.

The steaks were rubbed with Sea Salt . . .

and a generous amount of cracked blackpeppercorn

I built my standard two stage fire in my weber with some hardwood charcoal I picked up from Home Depot called Cowboy. Apparently this brand of hardwood can hit temps of just over a 1,000 degrees, so I seared the steaks at about 4 minutes a side with the lid down before moving them to the cool side of the grill.

The steaks after being seared on both sides.

I pulled the steaks off after about 2 minutes on the cool side and let them rest another 10 minutes on the cutting board.

Threw together a peppercorn sauce . . .

Steamed some broccolini

Roasted some baby Yukon gold potatoes

The Buffalo is on the left, the Dry aged is on the top and the Organic is on the right. The Dry aged seemed to be the hands down winner, people asking for seconds and thirds. The flavor was salty, but in a really good way and this steak was the most tender.

The Organic beef was a real surprise. Given the fact that it had the least amount of marbling, I thought the steak would be a dog. I was wrong. The organic beef had a deep beefy flavor compared to the Buffalo and was very very juicy.

The Buffalo was still a solid steak despite coming third. Some found it a bit gamey and bit tougher that the other two but I would not hesitate in picking up a couple of these for a future BBQ.

While the Dry Aged beef was a favorite it comes at a hefty price, near $30 a pound. The Buffalo and Organic were at around $20 which, while not cheap is a steak to consider if you are looking to feed a party or not drop dead of a heart attack at 40.

About Me

I'm an Urban Foodie Sherpa whose exploits have landed me in Black Book Magazine's LA dining guide, producing $24 in 24 hours and Thanksgiving Live! for Food Network and developing new shows for Alton Brown and Simon Majumdar. But my real food claim to fame is being the Chong to Food Network's Cheech: Jeff Mauro, Sandwich King and winner of Food Network Star season 7. Before Epic Meal time, there was Chef Jeff and Ali - you tube it.